Van der Waals Epitaxial Growth of Atomic Layered HfS2 Crystals for Ultrasensitive Near-Infrared Phototransistors

As a member of the group IVB transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) family, hafnium disulfide (HfS₂) is recently predicted to exhibit higher carrier mobility and higher tunneling current density than group VIB (Mo and W) TMDs. However, the synthesis of high-quality HfS₂ crystals, sparsely reported, has greatly hindered the development of this new field. Here, a facile strategy for controlled synthesis of high-quality atomic layered HfS₂ crystals by van der Waals epitaxy is reported. Density functional theory calculations are applied to elucidate the systematic epitaxial growth process of the S-edge and Hf-edge. Impressively, the HfS₂ back-gate field-effect transistors display a competitive mobility of 7.6 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and an ultrahigh on/off ratio exceeding 10⁸. Meanwhile, ultrasensitive near-infrared phototransistors based on the HfS₂ crystals (indirect bandgap ≈1.45 eV) exhibit an ultrahigh responsivity exceeding 3.08 × 10⁵ A W⁻¹, which is 10⁹-fold higher than 9 × 10⁻⁵ A W⁻¹ obtained from the multilayer MoS₂ in near-infrared photodetection. Moreover, an ultrahigh photogain exceeding 4.72 × 10⁵ and an ultrahigh detectivity exceeding 4.01 × 10¹² Jones, superior to the vast majority of the reported 2D-materials-based phototransistors, imply a great promise in TMD-based 2D electronic and optoelectronic applications.

A facile strategy for the synthesis of high-quality monolayer HfS₂ crystals by van der Waals epitaxy is reported. Ultrasensitive near-infrared phototransistors based on the HfS₂ crystals exhibit an ultrahigh responsivity 3.08 × 10⁵ A W⁻¹, and an ultrahigh detectivity exceeding 4.01 × 10¹² Jones, superior to most 2D materials-based phototransistors.

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